A recent encounter with a discarded stove allowed me to think about what could’ve been or perhaps could be in a more sustainable future – if we could build consumer goods to last, end discontinuation, or use more standardized interchangeable parts.
Welcome to my new WordPress site. Currently working on how to customize it.
Ethics has emerged as a common discussion topic and concern for user experience practitioners. It makes sense. As technology has gotten more advanced over the past decade with massive platform infrastructures in place and growing implementations of AI/ML, technologies have grown very powerful. The pressure to grow profits is relentless. Competition between products is fierce. And client partners who want to use these technologies have more money and power with motives to increase both. You know those movies where the protagonist is a quirky genius inventor and the bad guy is an evil CEO or military general ready to exploit their findings once they see it work? Here we are.
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What happens to your career when you start to make a stronger commitment to your values? How does a spiritual practice manifest in how you approach work or the professional choices you make? What does Buddhist practice look like in modern-day America?
For episode 2 we hear from Vyki Englert, a data strategist and product manager working in Civic Tech. Civic Tech at the most basic level is about building technology for government – two worlds with a lot to feel pessimistic about lately. However, Vyki goes into the unique spirit of the space in which people are trying to bring out the best in both to serve those most in need.
For the very first episode, we hear from Maura Brewer (L) & Abigail Glaum Lathbury (R), collectively known as the Rational Dress Society. They discuss Jumpsuit, their clothing production line that addresses the biggest ethical dilemmas in fashion and demonstrate that alternatives are possible. As “the open-source monogarment for everyday wear to replace all clothes in perpetuity”, it is made entirely in the U.S. in 248 sizes and available for purchase or as an open source pattern to sew yourself. They also speak frankly about how they sustain themselves and their work and finish by discussing their offshoot Make America Rational Again project and the current state of textile recycling.
Dutch historian Rutger Bregman makes a compelling case for money for nothing.
Utopia for Realists is an accessible, modern read that makes a case for some pretty dramatic shifts in global economic policy without the baggage that usually weighs down that kind of talk. It reminds you of the freedom and hope that can come from embracing sensible new ideas that just happen to have radical implications.
So what is this utopia?
In a nutshell… Universal Basic Income (UBI), a 15-hour workweek, and open borders.
Some personal thoughts and experiences that led to start building The New Constructivist project last year along with the audio show to launch May 1, 2018.
originally posted on thenewconstructivist.org
Though the economy is ever-present in news and politics, we rarely examine its fundamentals – and never with nuance. In this collection of essays published over 40 years ago, Schumacher shines a light on our systems, remarkably similar then, questioning the mythologies we’ve adopted and offering alternative approaches.
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I came to The Conference in Malmö, Sweden as a user experience designer in transition and found it not just inspiring but profound and moving, even tearing up a few times. This past year I’ve been following a a few vague, disparate leads looking for a more holistic vision of design which amazingly materialized at this one gathering. It felt like thee new new and the most interesting potential future to be a part of.
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